Self-replicating machine 1600053 223205646 2008-07-03T01:24:27Z JSimmonz 7355299 /* F-Units */ I think this will end contentions (and I cleaned it up). {{pp-semi-protected|small=yes}} [[Image:Advanced Automation for Space Missions figure 5-29.gif|thumb|right|A simple form of machine self-replication]] A '''self-replicating machine''' is an artificial construct that is theoretically capable of autonomously manufacturing a copy of itself using raw materials taken from its environment. The concept of self-replicating machines has been advanced and examined by [[Homer Jacobsen]], [[Edward F. Moore]], [[Freeman Dyson]], [[John von Neumann]] and in more recent times by [[K. Eric Drexler]] in his book on [[nanotechnology]], ''[[Engines of Creation]]'' and by [[Robert Freitas]] and [[Ralph Merkle]] in their review ''Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines''<ref name="Freitas 2004">{{cite book| last=Freitas| first=Robert A.| coauthors=Ralph C. Merkle| title=Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines| year=2004| publisher=Landes Bioscience| location=Georgetown, Texas| id=ISBN 1-57059-690-5| url=http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM.htm}}</ref> which provided the first comprehensive analysis of the entire replicator design space. The future development of such technology has featured as an integral part of several plans involving the mining of [[moon]]s and [[asteroid]] belts for ore and other materials, the creation of lunar factories and even the construction of [[solar power satellite]]s in space. The possibly misnamed [[von Neumann probe]]<ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/3.11.htm#p3 3.11<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> is one theoretical example of such a machine. Von Neumann also worked on what he called the [[Von Neumann universal constructor|universal constructor]], a self-replicating machine that would operate in a [[cellular automaton|cellular automata]] environment. A self-replicating machine is, as the name suggests, an artificial [[self-replication|self-replicating]] system that relies on conventional large-scale technology and automation. Certain idiosyncratic terms are occasionally found in the literature. For example, the term "clanking replicator" was once used by Drexler<ref name=EoC> {{cite web| url=http://www.e-drexler.com/d/06/00/EOC/EOC_Chapter_4.html#section01of03| title=Engines of Abundance (Chapter 4) Clanking Replicators| work=Engines of Creation| first=K. Eric| last=Drexler| year=1986}}</ref> to distinguish macroscale replicating systems from the microscopic [[nanorobot]]s or "[[assembler (nanotechnology)|assemblers]]" that [[nanotechnology]] may make possible, but the term is informal and is rarely used by others in popular or technical discussions. Replicators have also been called "von Neumann machines" after [[John von Neumann]], who first rigorously studied the idea. But this term ("von Neumann machine") is less specific and also refers to a completely unrelated computer architecture proposed by von Neumann, so its use is discouraged where accuracy is important. Von Neumann himself used the term [[Von Neumann universal constructor|universal constructor]] to describe such self-replicating machines. ==Basic concept== A self-replicating machine would need to have the capacity to gather energy and [[raw material]]s, process the raw materials into finished components, and then assemble them into a copy of itself. Further, for a complete self-replication it must, from scratch produce its smallest parts, such as bearings, connectors and delicate and intricate electronic components. It is unlikely that this would all be contained within a single structure, but would rather be a group of cooperating machines or an automated factory that is capable of manufacturing all of the machines that make it up. The factory could produce mining [[robot]]s to collect raw materials, construction robots to put new machines together, and repair robots to maintain itself against wear and tear, all without human intervention or direction. The advantage of such a system lies in its ability to expand its own capacity rapidly and without additional human effort; in essence, the initial investment required to construct the first self-replicating device would have an infinitely large payoff with no additional labor cost. Such a [[machine]] violates no [[physical law]]s, and the basic technologies necessary for some of the more detailed proposals and designs already exist. ==History of the concept== The general concept of artificial machines capable of producing copies of themselves dates back at least several hundred years. An early reference is an anecdote regarding the philosopher [[René Descartes]], who suggested to Queen [[Christina of Sweden]] that the human body could be regarded as a machine; she responded by pointing to a clock and ordering "see to it that it reproduces offspring."<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Scientific American| title=Build Your Own Replicator| volume=285| month=August| year=2001| pages=38–39| first=Moshe| last= Sipper| coauthors=James A. Reggia}} Several other variations on this anecdotal response also exist.</ref> Several other variations on this anecdotal response also exist. [[Samuel Butler (novelist)|Samuel Butler]] proposed in his 1872 novel ''[[Erewhon]]'' that machines were already capable of reproducing themselves with the assistance of the humans that operated them, and analogized this to flowering plants that were only capable of reproducing with the assistance of pollinating insects.<ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/1.htm#p5 1<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In 1802 [[William Paley]] formulated the first known teleological argument depicting machines producing other machines,<ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/1.htm#p11 1<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> suggesting that the question of who originally made a watch was rendered moot if it were demonstrated that the watch was able to manufacture a copy of itself.<ref>{{cite book| first=William| last= Paley| title= Natural Theology: or Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, Collected from the Appearances of Nature| chapter=Chapter i, Section 1| publisher= E. Goodale| year= 1802}}; [http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/p/pd-modeng/pd-modeng-idx?type=HTML&rgn=TEI.2&byte=53049319 (12th Edition, 1809)] See also: {{cite book| editor=Michael Ruse| title=Philosophy of Biology| year=1998| pages=36-40}}; {{cite journal| first=Richard| last= Lenski| title=Twice as Natural| journal=Nature| volume= 414| month=15 November| year= 2001| pages=255| doi=10.1038/35104715}}</ref> Scientific study of self-reproducing machines was anticipated by [[John Bernal]] as early as 1929<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/Bernal/| last=Bernal| first= John Desmond| title=The World, the Flesh and the Devil: An Enquiry into the Future of the Three Enemies of the Rational Soul| year=1929}}</ref> and by mathematicians such as [[Stephen Kleene]] who began developing [[recursion theory]] in the 1930s.<ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/1.htm#p14 1<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Much of this latter work was motivated by interest in information processing and algorithms rather than physical implementation of such a system, however. ===von Neumann's kinematic model=== A detailed conceptual proposal for a physical non-biological self-replicating system was first put forward by mathematician [[John von Neumann]] in lectures delivered in 1948 and 1949, when he proposed a [[kinematic]] self-reproducing automaton model as a [[thought experiment]].<ref>{{cite book| last=von Neumann| first=John| year=1966| title=The Theory of Self-reproducing Automata| editor= A. Burks| publisher=Univ. of Illinois Press| location= Urbana, IL}}</ref><ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/2.1.htm 2.1<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Von Neumann's concept of a physical self-replicating machine was dealt with only abstractly, with the hypothetical machine using a "sea" or stockroom of spare parts as its source of raw materials. The machine had a program stored on a memory tape that directed it to retrieve parts from this "sea" using a manipulator, assemble them into a duplicate of itself, and then copy the contents of its memory tape into the empty duplicate's. The machine was envisioned as consisting of as few as eight different types of components; four logic elements that send and receive stimuli and four mechanical elements used to provide a structural skeleton and mobility. While qualitatively sound, von Neumann was evidently dissatisfied with this model of a self-replicating machine due to the difficulty of analyzing it with mathematical rigor. He went on to instead develop an even more abstract model self-replicator based on [[cellular automata]].<ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/2.1.3.htm 2.1.3<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> His original kinematic concept remained obscure until it was popularized in a 1955 issue of ''[[Scientific American]]''.<ref>{{cite journal| last=Kemeny| first=John G.| title=Man Viewed as a Machine| journal=Scientific American| volume=192| year=1955| month= April| pages=58–67}}</ref> ===Moore's artificial living plants=== In 1956 mathematician [[Edward F. Moore]] proposed the first known suggestion for a practical real-world self-replicating machine, also published in ''Scientific American''.<ref>{{cite journal| journal=Scientific American| first=Edward F.| last=Moore| year=1956| volume=195| title=Artificial Living Plants| month=October| pages=118–126}}</ref><ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/3.1.htm 3.1<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Moore's "artificial living plants" were proposed as machines able to use air, water and soil as sources of raw materials and to draw its energy from sunlight via a [[Solar cell|solar battery]] or a [[steam engine]]. He chose the seashore as an initial habitat for such machines, giving them easy access to the chemicals in seawater, and suggested that later generations of the machine could be designed to float freely on the ocean's surface as self-replicating factory barges or to be placed in barren desert terrain that was otherwise useless for industrial purposes. The self-replicators would be "harvested" for their component parts, to be used by humanity in other non-replicating machines. ===Dyson's replicating systems=== The next major development of the concept of self-replicating machines was a series of thought experiments proposed by physicist [[Freeman Dyson]] in his 1970 Vanuxem Lecture.<ref>Freeman J. Dyson, "The twenty-first century," Vanuxem Lecture delivered at Princeton University, [[26 February]] [[1970]].</ref><ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/3.6.htm 3.6<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> He proposed three large-scale applications of machine replicators. First was to send a self-replicating system to [[Saturn (planet)|Saturn]]'s moon [[Enceladus (moon)|Enceladus]], which in addition to producing copies of itself would also be programmed to manufacture and launch [[solar sail]]-propelled cargo spacecraft. These spacecraft would carry blocks of Enceladean ice to [[Mars (planet)|Mars]], where they would be used to [[Terraforming of Mars|terraform the planet]]. His second proposal was a solar-powered factory system designed for a terrestrial desert environment, and his third was an "industrial development kit" based on this replicator that could be sold to developing countries to provide them with as much industrial capacity as desired. When Dyson revised and reprinted his lecture in 1979 he added proposals for a modified version of Moore's seagoing artificial living plants that was designed to distill and store fresh water for human use<ref>{{cite book| title=Chapter 18: Thought Experiments| work=Disturbing the Universe| first=Freeman J.| last=Dyson| year=1979| publisher=Harper and Row| location=New York| pages=194-204}}</ref> and the "[[Astrochicken]]." ===''Advanced Automation for Space Missions''=== [[Image:Advanced Automation for Space Missions figure 5-19.jpg|thumb|right|An artist's conception of a "self-growing" robotic lunar factory]] In 1980, inspired by a 1979 "New Directions Workshop" held at Wood's Hole, [[NASA]] conducted a joint summer study with [[ASEE]] entitled ''Advanced Automation for Space Missions'' to produce a detailed proposal for self-replicating factories to develop [[Moon|lunar]] resources without requiring additional launches or human workers on-site. The study was conducted at [[Santa Clara University]] and ran from [[June 23]] to [[August 29]], with the final report published in 1982.<ref>{{cite book| url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Advanced_Automation_for_Space_Missions |editor=[[Robert Freitas]], William P. Gilbreath| title=Advanced Automation for Space Missions| year=1982| id=NASA Conference Publication CP-2255 (N83-15348)}}</ref> The proposed system would have been capable of [[exponential growth|exponentially increasing]] productive capacity and the design could be modified to build self-replicating probes to explore the galaxy. The reference design included small computer-controlled electric carts running on rails inside the factory, mobile "paving machines" that used large parabolic mirrors to focus sunlight on lunar [[regolith]] to melt and sinter it into a hard surface suitable for building on, and robotic front-end loaders for [[strip mining]]. Raw lunar regolith would be refined by a variety of techniques, primarily [[hydrofluoric acid]] [[leaching]]. Large transports with a variety of manipulator arms and tools were proposed as the constructors that would put together new factories from parts and assemblies produced by its parent. Power would be provided by a "canopy" of solar cells supported on pillars. The other machinery would be placed under the canopy. A "[[casting]] [[robot]]" would use sculpting tools and templates to make [[plaster]] [[molding (process)|molds]]. Plaster was selected because the molds are easy to make, can make precise parts with good surface finishes, and the plaster can be easily recycled afterward using an oven to bake the water back out. The robot would then cast most of the parts either from nonconductive molten rock ([[basalt]]) or purified metals. A carbon dioxide laser cutting and welding system was also included. A more speculative, more complex microchip fabricator was specified to produce the computer and electronic systems, but the designers also said that it might prove practical to ship the chips from Earth as if they were "vitamins." Much of the design study was concerned with a simple, flexible chemical system for processing the ores, and the differences between the ratio of elements needed by the replicator, and the ratios available in lunar [[regolith]]. The element that most limited the growth rate was [[chlorine]], needed to process regolith for [[aluminium]]. Chlorine is very rare in lunar regolith. ===Lackner-Wendt Auxon replicators=== In 1995, inspired by Dyson's 1970 suggestion of seeding uninhabited deserts on Earth with self-replicating machines for industrial development, Klaus Lackner and Christopher Wendt developed a more detailed outline for such a system.<ref>{{cite journal| last=Lackner| first=Klaus S.| coauthors=Christopher H. Wendt| title="Exponential growth of large self-replicating machine systems| journal=Mathl. Comput. Modelling| volume=21| year=1995| pages=55–81| doi=10.1016/0895-7177(95)00071-9}}</ref><ref>Lackner, Klaus S., and Wendt, Christopher H., "Self-reproducing machine systems for global scale projects," Document LA-UR-93-2886, 4th International Conference and Exposition on Engineering, Construction and Operations in Space/Conference and Exposition/Demonstrations on Robotic for Challenging Environments, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 26 February - 3 March 1994</ref><ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/3.15.htm 3.15<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> They proposed a colony of cooperating mobile robots 10-30 cm in size running on a grid of electrified ceramic tracks around stationary manufacturing equipment and fields of solar cells. Their proposal didn't include a complete analysis of the system's material requirements, but described a novel method for extracting the ten most common chemical elements found in raw desert topsoil (Na, Fe, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, Al, C, O<sub>2</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>) using a high-temperature carbothermic process. This proposal was popularized in [[Discover Magazine]], featuring solar-powered desalination equipment used to irrigate the desert in which the system was based.<ref>{{cite journal| journal=Discover| year=1995| month=October| first=Thomas| last=Bass| title=Robot, build thyself| pages=64–72}}</ref> They named their machines "Auxons", from the [[Greek language|Greek]] word ''auxein'' which means "to grow." ==Recent work== ===Self-replicating rapid prototypers=== [[Image:Reprap Darwin.jpg|thumb|right|RepRap 1.0 "Darwin" prototype]] Early experimentation with [[rapid prototyping]] in 1997-2000 was not expressly oriented toward reproducing rapid prototyping systems themselves, but rather extended simulated "evolutionary robotics" techniques into the physical world. Later developments in rapid prototyping have given the process the ability to produce a wide variety of electronic and mechanical components, making this a rapidly developing frontier in self-replicating system research.<ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/3.20.htm Freitas 2004, p. 64-67]</ref> In 1998 Chris Phoenix informally outlined a design for a hydraulically-powered replicator a few feet in volume that used ultraviolet light to cure soft plastic feedstock and a fluidic logic control system, but didn't address most of the details of assembly procedures, error rates, or machining tolerances.<ref>{{cite newsgroup| author=Christopher J. Phoenix| newsgroup=sci.nanotech| title=Partial design for macro-scale machining self-replicator| date=March 21 1998| url=http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&selm=6f0nui%248ih%241%40news.nanospace.com}}</ref><ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/3.20.htm#p8 3.20<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> [[Image:First replication.jpg|300px|right|thumb|All of the plastic parts for the machine on the right were produced by the almost identical machine on the left. (Adrian Bowyer (left) and Vik Olliver(right) are members of the RepRap project.)]] In 2005, [[Adrian Bowyer]] of the [[University of Bath]] started the [[RepRap Project]] to develop a [[rapid prototyping]] machine which would be able to manufacture most of its own components, making such machines cheap enough for people to buy and use in their homes. The project is releasing its designs and control programs under the [[GNU GPL]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://staff.bath.ac.uk/ensab/replicator/| title=WebHome < Main < Reprap| accessdate=2007-02-18}}</ref> The RepRap approach uses [[fused deposition modeling]] to manufacture plastic components, possibly incorporating conductive pathways for circuitry. Other components, such as steel rods, nuts and bolts, motors and separate electronic components, would be supplied externally. In 2006 the project produced a basic functional prototype and in May 2008 the machine succeeded in producing all of the plastic parts required to make a 'child' machine. ===NIAC studies on self-replicating systems=== In the spirit of the 1980 "Advanced Automation for Space Missions" study, the [[NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts]] began several studies of self-replicating system design in 2002 and 2003. Four phase I grants were awarded: *[[Hod Lipson]] ([[Cornell University]]), "Autonomous Self-Extending Machines for Accelerating Space Exploration"<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.niac.usra.edu/files/studies/final_report/737Lipson.pdf| title=Autonomous Self-Extending Machines for Accelerating Space Exploration| first=Hod| last= Lipson| coauthors= Evan Malone| accessdate=2007-01-04| format=PDF}}</ref> *[[Gregory Chirikjian]] ([[Johns Hopkins University]]), "Architecture for Unmanned Self-Replicating Lunar Factories"<Ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.niac.usra.edu/files/studies/final_report/880Chirikjian.pdf| format=PDF| title=An Architecture for Self-Replicating Lunar Factories| first= Gregory S.| last= Chirikjian|date=April 26 2004| accessdate=2007-01-04}}</ref> *[[Paul Todd (biophysicist)|Paul Todd]] (Space Hardware Optimization Technology Inc.), "Robotic Lunar Ecopoiesis"<ref>{{cite web| last= Todd| first= Paul| title=Final Progress Report on Robotic Lunar Ecopoiesis Test Bed | date=30 April, 2004| accessdate=2007-01-04| url=http://www.niac.usra.edu/files/studies/final_report/884Todd.pdf| format=PDF}} (phase I report)</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.niac.usra.edu/files/studies/final_report/918Todd.pdf| title=Robotic Lunar Ecopoiesis Test Bed| date=July 6, 2006| accessdate=2007-01-04| first=Paul| last=Todd| format=PDF}} (phase II report)</ref> *[[Tihamer Toth-Fejel]] ([[General Dynamics]]), "Modeling Kinematic Cellular Automata: An Approach to Self-Replication"<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.niac.usra.edu/files/studies/final_report/883Toth-Fejel.pdf | title=Modeling Kinematic Cellular Automata| first= Tihamer| last= Toth-Fejel| coauthors= Robert Freitas and Matt Moses|date=April 30, 2004| format=PDF| accessdate=2007-01-04}}</ref><ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/3.25.4.htm 3.25.4<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The study concluded that complexity of the development was equal to that of a Pentium 4, and promoted a design based on cellular automata. ==F-Units== In 1998 Charles Michael Collins received [[United States]] [[patent]] number 5,764,518 for a self replicating machine. The patent claims a small robotic device with several attachments enabling it to tool a complete copy of itself. The patent further claims a combination of machining techniques and a [[polymer]] buildup techniques to attain independent [[self-replication]]. It additionally set forth new art such as the "Trolley Car Method", first self-replicating [[actuator]]s, and colorized tiles being employed for its [[software]] implementations amongst others, discussed in depth at Collins' site[http://www.geocities.com/charles_c_22191/_home.html]. The patent further claims that once replicated the machines could be used for a broad range of industrial and personal uses. These uses range from parts machining, to large scale [[infrastructure]] creation to personal grooming. The only published information about F-units is in the patents themselves and a critical mention by [[Robert Freitas]] and [[Professor]] [[Ralph Merkle]] in their text Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines[http://www.molecularassembler.com/KSRM/1.htm], an assessment that Mr. Collins contests [http://www.geocities.com/charles_c_22191/index.html?1205123711840]. ==Partial construction== Partial construction is the concept that the constructor creates a partially constructed (rather than fully formed) offspring, which is then left to complete its own construction.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Automata 2008| title=Signal Crossing Solutions in von Neumann Self-replicating Cellular Automata| year=2008| first=Willliam R.| last=Buckley}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|journal=Biological Theory| title=Computational Ontogeny| volume=3| issue=1| year=2008| first=Willliam R.| last=Buckley}}</ref> ==Self-replicating spacecraft== {{main|Self-replicating spacecraft}} The idea of an automated spacecraft capable of constructing copies of itself was first proposed in scientific literature in 1974 by [[Michael A. Arbib]],<ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/3.11.htm#p1 3.11<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{cite book| first=Michael A.| last=Arbib| title="The Likelihood of the Evolution of Communicating Intelligences on Other Planets| work= Interstellar Communication: Scientific Perspectives| editor=Cyril Ponnamperuma, A. G. W. Cameron| location=Boston| publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company| year=1974| pages=59-78}}</ref> but the concept had appeared earlier in [[science fiction]] such as the 1967 novel ''[[Berserker (Saberhagen)|Berserker]]'' by [[Fred Saberhagen]] or the 1950 novellette trilogy ''[[The Voyage of the Space Beagle]]'' by [[A. E. van Vogt]] (see [[#self-replicating machines in fiction|self-replicating machines in fiction]], below). The first quantitative engineering analysis of a self-replicating spacecraft was published in 1980 by Robert Freitas,<ref>{{cite journal| first=Robert A., Jr.| last=Freitas| title=A Self-Reproducing Interstellar Probe| journal=J. Brit. Interplanet. Soc.| volume=33| month=July| year=1980| pages=251–264| url=http://www.rfreitas.com/Astro/ReproJBISJuly1980.htm}}</ref> in which the non-replicating [[Project Daedalus]] design was modified to include all subsystems necessary for self-replication. The design's strategy was to use the probe to deliver a "seed" factory with a mass of about 443 tons to a distant site, have the seed factory replicate many copies of itself there to increase its total manufacturing capacity, and then use the resulting automated industrial complex to construct more probes with a single seed factory on board each. ==Other references== * A number of patents have been granted for self-replicating machine concepts.<ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/3.16.htm 3.16<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The most directly relevant include {{US patent|4734856}} "Autogeneric system" Inventor: Davis; Dannie E. (Elmore, AL) (March 1988), {{US patent|5659477}} "Self reproducing fundamental fabricating machines (F-Units)" Inventor: Collins; Charles M. (Burke, VA) (August 1997), {{US patent|5764518}} " Self reproducing fundamental fabricating machine system" Inventor: Collins; Charles M. (Burke, VA)(June 1998); Collins' PCT: [http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wo.jsp?IA=WO1996020453&DISPLAY=STATUS] and {{US patent|6510359}} "Method and system for self-replicating manufacturing stations" Inventors: Merkle; Ralph C. (Sunnyvale, CA), Parker; Eric G. (Wylie, TX), Skidmore; George D. (Plano, TX) (January 2003). *Macroscopic replicators are mentioned briefly in the fourth chapter of [[K. Eric Drexler|K. Eric Drexler's]] 1986 book ''[[Engines of Creation]]''.<ref name="EoC"/> * In 1995, Nick Szabo proposed a challenge to build a macroscale replicator from Lego(tm) robot kits and similar basic parts.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://web.archive.org/web/20060307220916/http://www.lucifer.com/~sean/N-FX/macro.html| title=Macroscale Replicator| first=Nick| last=Szabo| accessdate=2007-03-07}}</ref> Szabo wrote that this approach was easier than previous proposals for macroscale replicators, but successfully predicted that even this method would not lead to a macroscale replicator within ten years. *In 2004, [[Robert Freitas]] and [[Ralph Merkle]] published the first comprehensive review of the field of self-replication (from which much of the material in this article is derived, with permission of the authors), in their book ''Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines'', which includes 3000+ literature references.<ref name="Freitas 2004"/> This book included a new molecular assembler design,<ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/4.11.3.htm 4.11.3<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> a primer on the mathematics of replication,<ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/5.9.htm 5.9<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and the first comprehensive analysis of the entire replicator design space.<ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/5.1.9.htm 5.1.9<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> ==Self-replicating machines in fiction== In fiction, the idea dates back at least as far as [[Karel Čapek]]'s 1920 play ''[[R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)]]''.<ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/1.htm#p18 1<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> A fundamental obstacle of self-replicating machines, how to repair the repair systems, was the critical failure in the automated society described in ''[[The Machine Stops]]''. [[A. E. van Vogt]] used the idea as a plot device in his story "M33 in Andromeda" (1943), which was later combined with four other [[General Semantics]] stories to became the novel, [[The Voyage of the Space Beagle]]. The story describes the creation of self-replicating weapons factories designed to destroy the Anabis, a galaxy-spanning malevolent life form bent on destruction of the human race. An early treatment was the short story ''[[Autofac]]'' by [[Philip K. Dick]], published in 1955, which precedes von Neumann's original paper about self-reproducing machines.<ref name="3.1.htmp2">[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/3.1.htm#p2 3.1<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/5.11.htm#p6 5.11<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Dick also touched on this theme in his earlier 1953 short story ''[[Second Variety]]''. Another example can be found in the 1962 short story ''[[Epilogue (short story)|Epilogue]]'' by [[Poul Anderson]], in which self-replicating factory barges were proposed that used minerals extracted from ocean water as raw materials.<ref name="3.1.htmp2"/> In his short story "Crabs on the Island" (1958) [[Anatoly Dneprov (writer)|Anatoly Dneprov]] speculated on the idea that since the replication process is never 100% accurate, leading to slight differences in the descendants, over several generations of replication the machines would be subjected to [[evolution]] similar to that of living organisms. In the story, a machine is designed, the sole purpose of which is to find metal to produce copies of itself, intended to be used as a weapon against an enemy's war machines. The machines are released on a deserted island, the idea being that once the available metal is all used and they start fighting each other, [[natural selection]] will enhance their design. However, the evolution has stopped by itself when the last descendant, an enormously large crab, was created, being unable to reproduce itself due to lack of energy and materials. [[Stanisław Lem]] has also studied the same idea in his novel ''[[The Invincible]]'' (1964), in which the crew of a spacecraft landing on a distant planet finds a non-biological life-form, which is the product of long, possibly of millions of years of, mechanical evolution. This phenomenon is also key to the aforementioned Anderson story. [[John Sladek]] used the concept to humorous ends in his first novel ''The Reproductive System'' (1968, also titled ''Mechasm'' in some markets), where a U.S. military research project goes out of control.<ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/5.5.htm#p3 5.5<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> NASA's Advanced Automation for Space Missions study directly inspired the science fiction novel ''[[Code of the Lifemaker]]'' (1983) by author [[James P. Hogan (writer)|James P. Hogan]]. The movie ''[[Screamers (film)|Screamers]]'', based on Dick's short story ''Second Variety'', features a group of robot weapons created by mankind to act as Von Neumann devices / [[Berserker (Saberhagen)|berserkers]]. The original robots are subterranean buzzsaws that make a screaming sound as they approach a potential victim beneath the soil. These machines are self-replicating and, as is found out through the course of the movie, they are quite intelligent and have managed to "evolve" into newer, more dangerous forms, most notably human forms which the real humans in the movie cannot tell apart from other real humans except by trial and error. The concept is also widely utilised in science fiction television. The [[TV series]] [[Lexx]] featured an army of self replicating robots known as [[Mantrid]] drones. Additionally, the [[Replicator (Stargate)|Replicator]]s are a horde of self-replicating machines that appear frequently in [[Stargate SG-1]], and [[Star Trek]]'s [[Borg (Star Trek)|Borg]] and "nanites"[http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci514355,00.html][[http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Evolution_%28episode%29]][http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Nanite] could also be considered self-replicating machines. ===Other notable works containing replicators=== *"[[The Necessary Thing]]" by [[Robert Sheckley]], in which the Universal Replicator is unwittingly tricked into replicating itself *The [[Berserker (Saberhagen)|Berserker]] series of books and short stories by [[Fred Saberhagen]] *''[[The Forge of God]] by [[Greg Bear]] *''[[2010: Odyssey Two]] by [[Arthur C. Clarke]] *''[[The World at the End of Time]]'' by [[Frederik Pohl]] *''[[Recursion (novel)|Recursion]]'' by [[Tony Ballantyne]] ISBN 0-330-42699-0 *''[[Evolution (Stephen Baxter novel)|Evolution]]'' by [[Stephen Baxter]] *''[[Spin (novel)|Spin]]'' by ''[[Robert Charles Wilson]]'' *''[[Prey (novel)|Prey]]'' by [[Michael Crichton]] ==Prospects for implementation== As the use of industrial automation has expanded over time, some factories have begun to approach a semblance of self-sufficiency that is suggestive of self-replicating machines.<ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/3.7.htm 3.7<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> However, such factories are unlikely to achieve "full closure"<ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/5.6.htm 5.6<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> until the cost and flexibility of automated machinery comes close to that of human labour and the manufacture of spare parts and other components locally becomes more economical than transporting them from elsewhere. Fully-capable machine replicators are most useful for developing resources in dangerous environments which are not easily reached by existing transportation systems (such as [[outer space]]). An artificial replicator can be considered to be a form of [[artificial life]]. Depending on its design, it might be subject to [[evolution]] over an extended period of time.<ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/5.1.9.L.htm 5.1.9.L<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> However, with robust [[error correction]], and the possibility of external intervention, the common [[science fiction]] scenario of robotic life run amok will remain extremely unlikely for the foreseeable future.<ref>[http://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/5.11.htm 5.11<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> ==See also== *[[Conway's Game of Life]] *[[Grey goo]] *[[Ecophagy]] *[[Computer virus]] ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * [http://www.poptech.com/popcasts/popcasts.aspx?lang=&viewcastid=154 Video of Adrian Bowyer talking about RepRap] at the [http://www.poptech.com/ Pop!Tech 2007 Conference]. * [http://www.3dreplicators.com The Clanking Replicator Project: Bootstrap your own self-replicating, rapid prototyping machine] * [http://ccsl.mae.cornell.edu/research/selfrep/ Cornell's Self-replicating machine] * [http://reprap.org The RepRap Project: Creating wealth without money...] * [http://www.rfreitas.com/Astro/TerraformSRS1983.htm Terraforming Mars and Venus using machine self-replicating systems (SRS)] *[http://www.archive.org/details/NickSzabosEssayGreenGoo-LifeInTheEraOfHumaneGenocide Green Goo - Life In The Era Of Humane Genocide] by Nick Szabo [[Category:Robots]] [[Category:Artificial life]] [[Category:Robotics]] [[hi:स्वयमानुलिपिक मशीन]]